The presence of music in Greek worship: An iconographical approach*

Chaos e Kosmos XV, 2014 – www.chaosekosmos.it

Chaos e Kosmos – www.chaosekosmos.it Rivista online ISSN 1827-0468 Autorizzazione del Tribunale di Roma nr. 320/2006 del 3 Agosto 2006 Direttore responsabile e proprietario Riccardo Chiaradonna

The presence of music in Greek worship: An iconographical approach*

Fábio Vergara Cerqueira

I. Preliminary thoughts: interface between music and religion The relevance of the study of music in religious worship1 consists not only of describing the forms of the musical accompaniment to ceremonies, but also of asking, from an ethnomusicological perspective, about the role of music in religion, as an instrument or even an act of communication between gods and men2. In the meantime, in identifying the variety of forms of worship manifestations, we have to pay attention to the diversity of motives that influence the choice of musical instruments, according to the nature of the cult service.

*First and foremost, I would like to express my gratefulness to the scholars and colleagues who, in different manners and moments, contributed to the elaboration of the present paper: to Reinhard Stupperich, for general advices; to Ennio Sanzi, for the invitation to publish; to Priscilla Ferreira Ulguim, for the careful revision of my English version of the paper. I also would like to thank the institutions that gave me conditions for the development of this research, in particular the Department of History of the Federal University of Pelotas, Brazil, the Institute of Classical Archaeology of Heidelberg University, Germany. This work is made possible by the financial support of CAPES/Humboldt-Foundation Fellowship as “Experienced Researcher” on Classical Archaeology and of the Productivity Fellowship on Historical Archaeology of Brazilian Council for Scientific Research – PQ-2/CNPQ. Nevertheless, the concepts and arguments exposed and articulated in this paper, as well as eventual misunderstandings, are responsibility strictly of its author. 1 This article concerns the homonymous lecture held on May 21, 2013, in the Istituto di Istruzione Superiore “Via delle Scienze” – Colleferro – Itália, no Liceo Classico “Via di Scroccarocco” – Segni. The texts result from an extract of the doctoral thesis entitled Os instrumentos musicais na vida diária da Atenas tardo-arcaica e clássica (540-400 a.C.). O testemunho dos vasos áticos e de textos antigos (3 volumes, São Paulo, Universidade de São Paulo, 2001). A first version was published originally in Portuguese, with the title: Música e culto religioso. Estudo do Acompanhamento Musical das Procissões e Sacrifícios Atenienses, «Classica», pp. 13-14 (2002), pp. 81-100. I thank Ennio Sanzi for the invitation to publish an English version of the text. All drawings presented in this paper are done by the author. 2 Aytai 1990, pp. 89-96.


2

In our study about music in religion, emphasis is placed on the accompaniment of ritual acts and sacred chants by musical instruments. We do not deal with the musical and literary genders of such chants (hymns, paeans, enchantments and magic recipes), as such subjects have been appropriately discussed by Gérard Lambin3. We ought to be aware that music, in religious cult, is not only an element of communication in different types of rituals (processions, sacrifices, libations, fumigations, festivals, etc.), but music itself is a form of religious expression. This is the case for the choirs, which simultaneously constitute an expression of choral and choreographic art. There were four modalities of choral dances, according to their composition: choirs of girls, choirs of boys, choirs of citizens and mixed choirs (of girls and boys; of boys and adult men). With regard to manifestations of worship in the form of dances and choirs, we are interested in the historical record of accompaniment with musical instruments. Religious expression includes events and manifestations that are today considered as part of profane phenomenological categories, but in Antiquity belonged to the sacred domain. Here, we consider instances of musical and athletic contest. Nowadays, the Olympic Games and the World Cup, as well as rock festivals or classic music concerts, are devoid of religious character. However, in ancient Greece such events were as religious as a mass or a sermon. Therefore, the study of musical agon is a part of the study of the use of music in religion. Nevertheless, within this paper, we focus in particular, on the use of musical instruments in processions and sacrifices devoted to different deities II. Music and musical instruments in religious cults Music was an indispensable component of Greek worship, being present in almost all of the religious manifestations: libations and sacrifices could not be accomplished without musical accompaniment4. Conversely, the development of music has always been strongly influenced by religion, so that almost all forms of musical performance – such as hymns, dithyrambs, choirs, musical agones and theatre – were somehow connected to religious life. It is

3 Lambin 1992, pp. 313-50. 4 P.Oxy. 675, col. I, on libations, and col. II, on animal sacrifices.


3

well known that, in the course of time, Greek musical art experienced important technical and theoretical developments beyond the religious domain. However, religious festivals remained the most important environment for such musical performance, despite its specialization, professionalization and secularization5. According to the Greek perception of religious practices, the component of instrumental music within these manifestations was regarded as a natural constitutive element, insofar as they considered it astonishing when other peoples worshipped without music, as observed Herodot6 about the Persians, who completed their sacrifice rites without musical accompaniment. On the basis of this Greek custom, there was the belief that music was a propitiatory agent of communication between the human and the divine, since it would be necessary for the god’s acceptance of the sacrifice. The story told by Plutarch about Ismenias, a famous Theban auletes, is very illuminating about this feature: the Theban musician, known for his virtuosity and wealth, was playing the aulos during a sacrifice, but it seemed that the god was not listening to his music, insomuch that the religious service was at risk of failure, although the musical accompaniment was performed by a successful musician; so they decided to call a humble musician, and the god finally accepted the sacrifice7. Music was used to ensure that the god could hear and meet human demands, as in the case of a fugitive who caught Zeus’ attention with the melody he played on a Lydian aulos8. The same purpose of music is testified in another situation: during sacrifices completed on the battlefields, in which music was a necessary component for guaranteeing that the god met his followers’ demands and fought beside them9. However, a sacrifice could be fulfilled without music. The absence of music was the rule in chthonic rituals, such as the cult for

5 Cf. Haldane 1966, p. 98; Nordquist 1992a, p. 143. 6 Hdt. I 132. 7 Plut. Quaes.Conv. II 1.632c-d. 8 Pind. O. V 45. 9 Xen. Const. Lac. XIII 8: “When a goat is sacrificed, the enemy being near enough to see, custom ordains that all the fluteplayers present are to play and every Lacedaemonian is to wear a wreath” (tr. by E.C. Marchant, G.W. Bowersock in Xenophon, VII, Cambridge [MA] – London 1925); Aesch. Th 267: “That the gods fight on our side” (tr. by H. Weir Smith, in Aeschylus, I, . Cambridge [MA] 1926).


4

the Charites in Paros10. Apart from this particular situation, the absence of musical instruments was considered damage for worship and festivities11. The references to sacrifices completed without musical instruments appear in literary sources as exceptions – indeed, rather than the description of a real situation, it seems us to be a literary appeal to reinforce criticism, for it would be an absurd to accomplish a rite without the presence of a musician. This is very clear in two situations when the musician has been discarded during a sacrifice: according to a story told by Athenaeus12, Stratonicus, a distinguished but eccentric citharist, would have ordered an auletes to stop his music until the libations and prayers had been concluded, because he considered his inaptitude was disturbing the ritual; in a passage of Aristophanes’ Peace, one discards the auletes Cheris for being unsuitable. The discarding of Cheris, often slandered by Aristophanes, as well as the rejection of the unskilful auletes by Stratonicus, reveals a social prejudice regarding professional musicians, mainly concerning auletai of humble origin who formed part of the so called musical proletariat, which acted mostly in rituals and funerals13. The social disdain even came from well-esteemed musicians, and from auletai, such as the above-mentioned Ismenias, who lamented to use of the term auletes to denominate funeral musicians14. The prejudice toward such musicians of low social scale is perceptible even among vase painters, mainly red-figure vase painters, who often depicted sacrifice scenes. Gulög Nordquist highlights the fact that sacrifice scenes were represented without musicians15 – we know, however, that this does not mean that Athenians of the fifth century BC practiced official cults without music and musicians. The painters omitted the figure of proletarian auletai, considering them as not worthy of portrayal, sharing Aristophanes’ judgement regarding these low class musicians.

10 Apollod. III 15-7; cf. Haldane 1966, p. 106. 11 Plut. Non posse 1102 A. 12 Ath. VIII 349c. 13 Aristoph. Pax 950-1; Av. 858; Ach. 16 and 866. Cf. Nordquist 1992a, pp. 163-165; Bélis 1999, pp. 84-86. 14 Apul. Fl. IV 3. D.Chr. XLIX 12. Concerning the relation between poverty and funeral musicians: Ael. VH XII 43. 15 Cf. Nordquist 1992a, p. 166.


5

Thus, since the absence of the musician in worship was considered an exception or an anecdote, this confirms that the rule was to use musicians during rituals. Thereupon, it is surprising that few authors have chosen the subject as object of systematic analysis. The first study dedicated exclusively to this theme was written by J.A. Haldane and published in 1966. In his article Musical Instruments in Greek Worship, he developed a basic literary analysis, using iconography only eventually, with the purpose of proving the evidence provided by written testimony. This author moved between sources with excessive chronological freedom, leading to temporal discrepancies: for instance, he used the Minoan sarcophagus of Haghia Triada, side by side with Boeotian vases and Parthenon friezes, as iconographical proof of Classical and Hellenistic literary testimonies16. However, he highlighted the multiplicity of instruments in Dionysian cults, anticipating the analysis completed twenty years later by Annie Bélis17. It was necessary to wait twenty six years following Haldane’s work for a new general and all-encompassing study concerning music in worship. In 1992, the Norwegian archaeologist Gullög Nordquist published the article Instrumental Music in Representation of Greek cult. The author decided to establish a counterpoint to Haldane’s literary study, aiming, using the iconographical record of Attic vases, to answer the following questions: In which moment were musical instruments used during the cults? Which instruments were used in such situations? Who played these instruments? What was the relationship of the musician with the cult and other worshippers? Nordquist analysed iconographical material, dividing it into two ritual situations: processions and sacrifices, avoiding the singularity of orgiastic cults, in which music plays a very particular role. In order to

16 He concentrated his efforts on proving that the aulos was the key instrument in worship (justifying this phenomenon by the strength of its incisive sounds), despite his merit in recognising the use of other wind and string instruments in most sumptuous rituals, listing enough documental testimonies that brought down the reductionist view of the aulos uniqueness in religious acts. 17 Cfr Bélis 1986. From the organological standpoint, Haldane committed the unforgivable mistake of mixing indiscriminately kithara, chelys (lyra) and phorminx, classificatory distinctions that were already well established, when he wrote his paper, in the reference work by Wegner 1949. For instance, when referring to Homeric hymns, he mentions the kithara, when in fact the instrument mentioned in such texts would be either the Homeric phorminx or the chelys (lyra), as is the case in the second Homeric Hymn to Apollo (HH XXI 3).


6

understand the representations of music in worship, she highlights the specific approach the Attic painters gave to processions and sacrifices, as already emphasized by K. Lehnstaedt. Processions appear mainly on the work of black-figure painters, prevailing the interest in representing the collective worship of the polis, principally cults dedicated to the goddess Athena. Sacrifices were mainly the domain of red-figure painters, who forsook the preference for big groups participating in rituals, instead choosing scenes with few participants, in which religious acts were portrayed in a synoptic language, by condensing various phases of the ritual into the same scene; the attention of this generation of painters turned to particular cults, with preference for scenes depicting worship of Apollo18. From a musical perspective, G. Nordquist dared, to use iconography as a tool to question one of the basic principles of the historiography of ancient Greek music, the monody: in contrast to this premise, she presented consistent evidence regarding the practice of sinaulia during processions, by associating different instruments and surpassing the simple monody19. Some scholars have researched the music used in particular religious cults. In 1970 Apostolos Athanassakis published a study on the music in Eleusinian ritual, inferring that the aulos and the tympanon were the principal instruments, based on an etymological analysis of the names of the personages referred to in myths concerning the arrival of Demeter to Eleusis. In the same way as Haldane, Athanassakis based his arguments primarily on literary sources, very shyly referencing iconographical evidence in just a single footnote20. Annie Bélis, in turn, dedicated a paper to music of the Dionysian cortege, pointing to the existence of a sonorous “Dionysian orchestra”, composed mainly of wind and percussion instruments, as well as voices, producing violent musical contrasts, resulting in a music of extremes, dominated by not melodious percussions, but the

18 Cf. Lehnstaedt 1970, passim; Nordquist 1992a, pp. 165-6. 19 We share her position in order to establish that Greeks eventually practiced orchestral music in daily life, having practical knowledge of harmonization, even if respecting harmonic simplicity. In the 90s, Gullög Nordquist published two other studies on music in ritual, systematically approaching subjects that until then had been dealt only in passing. One of them was devoted to the use of salpinx, the other, to musicians; cf. Nordquist 1992b; Nordquist 1994. 20 Cf. Athanassakis 1970, nota 81.


7

sharp sound of female voices and by the low and rusky sound of the Phrygian aulos. She recalls, however, that iconography also represents the barbitos in Dionysian cortege, which would be suitable due to its low tuning. According to A. Bélis:

“The immediate effect of this opposition is to provoke, in the participants, a tension which adds to the frenzy caused by the acceleration of the rhythms beaten by the percussion: the trance deepens, the dance becomes increasingly fast”21.

Nonetheless, she maintains the conception that the aulos is the Dionysian instrument par excellence, thanks to its orgiastic and passional effect pointed by Aristotle22. In our iconographical study on the musical accompaniment of religious cults and rites, the musical practices in processions and sacrifices are important aspects, articulated in the context of the use of musical instruments23. Starting with a systematization of iconographical evidence, we have picked out some specific examples of procession and sacrifice, in order to illustrate the cultural and musical universe that shaped the daily dynamics of such worship services. II.1 Processions in general On a skyphos from the National Museum at Athens (fig. 1 – cat. 1), dated from c. 585-80 B.C., we see a procession, presumedly Dionysian: the participants advance with cultural dignity, bringing offerings allusive to the party held under the grace of Dionysus, the symposion – we identify, among the offerings, kerai, skyphoi, karchesia and kantharoi. However, as far as we know, the banquet was not a situation only for drinking, since music played a role as important as the wine, insomuch that the lyra – in this period still very

21 Bélis 1986, p. 20: “L’effet immédiat de cette opposition est de provoquer chez les participants une tension à laquelle s’ajoute la frenesi causée par l’accélération des rythmes battus par les percussions: la transe s’approfondit, la danse se fait de plus en plus rapide”. 22 Arist. Pol. VIII 1342. 23 In this sense, we are quite close to the approach taken in G. Nordquist texts. We verify, on Attic pottery iconography depicting religious processions, the following instruments : aulos, lyra, kithara, barbitos e salpinx.


8

actively played by male banqueters (cat. 11; 12; 13)24 – forms a coherent part of the set of objects offered to Dionysus, as it appears in the hands of the participant that leads the procession.

Fig. 1

From the second half of the sixth century B.C., we verify the absolute prevalence of the aulos in the accompaniment of processions. Indeed, according to literary testimony, the aulos was used in the accompaniment of the paean refrain or of the processional hymn, called prosodion, although it can be also played alone, as an instrumental solo25. The prosodia formed part of processional sacrifices and choirs. Proclus, in his work Chrestomatheia, included the accompaniment with the aulos in the definition of the prosodion. We should not forget that famous auletai such as Pronomos and Clonas excelled at composing prosodia26. The aulos was often used even in processions in which the song was not a religious hymn or a paean: during the hieros gamos ritual, one took dolls dressed like brides, up to Mount

24 In the Corinthian society portrayed in contemporary pots – or in little previous ones – it is the lyra that stands out at banquets. Cf. Krater. Middle Corinthian. Athana Painter. Paris, Louvre, E 629. Circa 590-75. 25 Aristoph. Av. 857-8. Paus. VIII 38, 8. Cf. Haldane 1966, pp. 99; Nordquist 1992a, p. 144. 26 Ps.-Plut. Mus. III 1132c; Paus. IX 12, 6.


9

Cithaeron, in a procession accompanied by the music of the aulos and the hymenaeus song27. The accompaniment of processions by aulos occurred substantially in two forms that correspond to two different cultual expressions: the choir, and the sacrificial procession. In accompanying choirs, the musical performance itself was the cultic expression, through which, in honour of a god, a hymn or a paean was sung and a dance was performed – the aulos had a musical function, since music was the substance of this rite. The attitude of these processional choirs, either grave, joyful or orgiastic, depended on the nature of the ritual. During sacrificial processions, the aulos was the instrument that at the same time provided the tempo and the melodical accompaniment of the cortege, which leads the victim to the sanctuary and after that to the altar, where it would be immolated and offered to the god. In this case, the function of the aulos is linked to an intermediation – an intermediation between cult officiants and the honoured god, between officiants and public, between cult and victim. The iconography of Attic vases provides many examples in which the auletes takes part in the choir that honours some deity, both in processions and in worship before the altar, in scenes registered by painters of black- and red-figure techniques. In our catalogue, we list examples that evidence this situation, five in procession (fig. 3 – cat. 3; cat. 5; 6; 7; 8) and two in a cult service around the altar (fig. 2 – cat. 2; cat. 14), beyond the cases directly connected to Dionysian worship, during the Lenaea and Anthesteria festivals, when the aulos accompanied Bacchae processions with a controlled mood (cat. 15). As a rule, the dancing choirs took part in rituals practiced by women. On the fragment of the base of a loutrophoros from Athens (cat. 6), we see a choir of girls wearing peplos doing a ritual dance to the rhythm of the music of an auletris, who differs from the others in her clothing: she wears a pleated dress, with sleeves by the elbows. On a krater by the Villa Giulia Painter (cat. 7), we see a choir of girls, hand in hand, following the music of the auletris, performing a circle dance, in a sober manner. The girls most likely sang a parthenion, while dancing in a circle next to a temple, as suggested by the column represented behind them.

27 Ov. Am. III 13, 11-12.


10

Dances accompanied by the aulos also played an important role in offertory rituals at the altar, mainly during libations performed by women. In a complicated puzzle of incomplete fragments of a campaniform krater from the Athenian Acropolis (cat. 14), we identify a choir of girls dancing to the rhythm of the music played by an auletris, while carrying out a libation over the altar that will receive the sacrifice of a deer. In this situation, the aulos has a double ritualistic function: to give rhythm to the choral dance and to facilitate the acceptance of the libation by the deity. On a red-figure pyxis from the National Museum at Athens (fig. 2 – cat. 2), the painter portrayed the preparations for a libation, while a group of girls dance and a woman, sitting in a klismos, plays the aulos directly before the altar – indicating the function of music as both a communicative intermediation with the honoured god and as an offering itself.

Fig. 2

Literary sources point to the aulos as the instrument that accompanied the parthenion28, notwithstanding the possibility of the hymn sung during the choral dances of virgin girls being accompanied

28 Ath. XIV 634 ff..


11

by aulos or lyra29. We presume that the aulos was the principal instrument during the processional form of the parthenia, while during the circle dances one could use both alternately30. We find interesting evidence on an Attic hydria conserved in Naples, in which a musician is depicted as the regent of a girls’ choir: she switches the aulos for the lyra, denoting how each performance demanded specific musical instruments31. The male choirs seem to translate a more sober atmosphere, as should be expected for civic worship, even when the honoured god is Dionysus. This is the case of three vases in our catalogue. In a black-figure kylix attributed to the B.M.N. Painter (cat. 8), an auletes accompanies a dour procession, marked by the elegant costumes of the participants and their sober attitude, giving some official pomp to the celebration. Some participants bring a keras, indicating the probable identity of the honoured god – Dionysus. A similar scene is represented on a contemporary amphora by the Swing Painter (cat. 5), in which the worshipped deity cannot be identified. On the inner surface of a kylix from Paris attributed to the Triptolemos Painter (fig. 3 – cat. 3), the painted decoration is divided into two areas with iconographical narrative, the tondo, and the area around it. The scene around the tondo represents a procession, composed of thirteen male pairs, linked by philia bonds, indicated by fact of each couple being enveloped by a common khlaina32. The group is led by the auletes and by the coryphaeus, who conducts the cortege by raising his right hand flat. The scene is about a mixed choir, formed of adult and young men, presumably citizens – the mixed choir was suitable for artistic and religious socialization, through music and dance, of groups of male friends and lovers, adults and youths, who attended the same banquets, which they enjoyed together under the protection of Dionysus. And he was precisely the god honoured by this choir of homoerotic couples, as indicated by the scene on the tondo, with a boy offering a libation to Dionysus. According to A. Bélis, the vase represents a dithyramb choir that took part in a musical contest devoted to Dionysus33.

29 Alcm. frs. 66 e 78 Bergk. 30 Cf. Haldane 1966, p. 104. 31 Cf. Furtwängler – Reichhold 1932, p. 171. 32 In respect to sharing the khlaina by male and female homoerotic couples or by heterosexual ones, as a symbol of of philia relationship, cf. Calame 1996, p. 136. 33 Cf. Bélis 1999, p. 146, fig. 1.


12

Fig. 3

In these three vases, the piper stands out from the others, thanks to his clothes, as a figure separate from the worshippers. In these three cases, beyond the khiton, he wears a special piece, typical of professional auletai, the ependytes: a sleeveless shirt, embroidered with geometric motifs, worn over the tunic, covering his body to just below waist, but leaving the movement of his arms free. On the amphora from Naples (cat. 5) and the kylix from Paris (fig. 3 – cat. 3), the musician uses also a phorbeia, a professional device useful for long musical performances such as processions, for it permits the aulos player to control his force in blowing the instrument. Thus we conclude, from the iconographical evidence that professional musicians were employed for the function of auletai in such choirs, dispite the fact that up to Hellenistic period the members of the choir were not professionals, but citizens. However, in rituals with female choirs, the auletridai are not represented as professionals, but as amateur musicians, belonging presumedly to the same social group as the choir singers, although the clothes of the aulos player in the loutrophoros from Athens (cat. 6) point to the possibility of a professional auletris.


13

II.2 Sacrificial processions The aulos appears in many examples of sacrificial processions, mainly represented by black-figure vase-painters. Attic paintings mainly represent two specific moments of the procession with sacrificial victim: the cortege along the streets and the cortege’s arrival at the sanctuary (the stage prior to the sacrifice)34. A fragmentary pinax from the Athenian Acropolis (fig. 4 – cat. 4) provides us with an example of an auletes performing along the procession’s route. On fragment 2574, four women go forward in cortege, bringing two deers among other offerings; their steps follow the rhythm provided by the aulos played by a young musician wearing khiton, himation and phorbeia. On fragment 2575, in which the auletes is not youth, but a bearded man, the offerings set does not include an animal; we see instead two kanephoroi girls and a woman with a trident. The laurel branches and the deer on the first fragment suggest a procession to Apollo; on the other hand, from the trident on the second fragment we infer a procession to Poseidon.

Fig. 4

34 Exclusively black-figures vase-painters represented the course of the sacrificial procession, with the rare exception of a fragment from Menidi contemporary to the Parthenon friezes (= fig. 8 – cat. 17), cf. Lehnstaedt 1970; Nordquist 1992a, pp. 165-166. On the other hand, scenes representing arrival at the sanctuary are depicted both by painters of black-figure and red-figure techniques.


14

Our catalogue counts two interesting examples of processional sacrifice devoted to Dionysus. On a skyphos attributed to the Theseus Painter, conserved in Stuttgart (fig. 5 – cat. 9), we find a sort of procession identified by J.D. Beazley as Dionysian35. Unlike the more formal and sophisticated processions, here we see a more rustic form of worship, where the participants, including the auletes, are naked. The nakedness denotes simplicity and a lack of concern with the social appearance of the event, implying a private cult – the nudity of the musician indicates he is not a professional engaged in the service, but an amateur, a free citizen like the others.

Fig. 5

The scene pictured by Theseus Painter differs radically from the procession depicted by Affecter (fig. 6 – cat. 10), which probably illustrates a pompe performed during the Dionysia, where the participants dress elegantly. In a cortege represented along the two faces of the vase, the procession goes up to the sanctuary, when the group is received by a priestess standing behind the altar. Among the offerings (branches, leaf garlands, tray with fruits and food, lekythoi), a ram stands out, followed by the auletes.

35 ABV 518. Cf. Black figure vase. The Theseus Painter (ABV 704/27ter; Add2 129). Tampa/Florida, previously Maplewood, Collection Noble, 25. Late sixth century B.C.


15

Fig. 6

II.3 Great public processions (the Panathenaic and Eleusinian processions) Following the spirit of valorization of collective life, as a way of exalting community spirit, the Attic vase-painters took interest in the representations of the greatest of all Athenian processions, the pompai, held every four years during the Great Panathenaia. We find a series of black-figure vases, dated from 560-500 B.C., depicting the Great Panathenaia procession, which ran through the city from Piraeus to the Acropolis via the Panathenaic Way (cat. 23; Cf. fig. 10 – cat. 19; fig. 11 – cat. 20; fig. 12 – cat. 21; cat. 22).

Fig. 7


16

The only example prior to this date is a kylix from the British Museum (fig. 7 – cat. 16), attributed by modern authors to a Boeotian workshop, notwithstanding the possibility of being a Boeotian imitation of an Attic original, which would be the only complete representation of the procession previous to the reformulation of the Great Panathenaia dated likely from 566 B.C. Therefore, it is not a suitable testimony to illustrate the participation of musicians in such processions. Concerning the fifth century B.C., we find a unique example of a red-figure vase, dated from the third quarter of the century (fig. 8 – cat. 17), perhaps influenced by the Parthenon frieze, indicated by the fact that this is the only vase to represent the cortege advancing from right to left, just as in the Parthenon frieze36.

Fig. 8

Attic vase-painters converge in one aspect with regards to the Panathenaic pompai: the complexity of the musical accompaniment of such processions. In this sense, regarding the “musicalization” of the pompai, they corroborate the literary testimonies in respect to different regions and periods of the Greek world. Thanks to the splendour of the situation, other instruments could be added. According to an inscription, we know that the procession to Zeus Sosipolis in Magnesia included the participation of auloi, syringes and kitharai37. The Delian procession celebrating Apollo’s return from the Hyperboreans used the same instruments38. Literature, as well as the representation of Eleusinian pompe on a fragmentary Attic 36 Except for the two pots from the first half of the sixth century B.C. (cat. 16 and 23), probably expressing the situation of the procession before the reformulation of the Great Panathenaia at about 566 B.C. 37 SIG 589, 1, 46; cf. Haldane 1966, p. 99. 38 Ps.-Plut. Mus. XIV 1136b.


17

loutrophoros (cat. 24), reveals that the model for the musical accompaniment of the Great Panathenaia procession was not an isolated phenomenon, but a constant in major public processions. The Panathenaic pompai were accompanied by a sort of musical band, consisting of wind and string instruments, essentially the aulos, the lyra and the kithara. This musical formation remained until the arrival into the sanctuary, when they began the preparations for the sacrifices – kitharistai did not take part. From this moment onwards a single auletes was employed, with a specific role, different to his prior function during the procession. Thus we have two distinct situations of musical participation in Panathenaic procession, following a general scheme of representation of procession scenes: the cortege through the town and the arrival into the shrine. Concerning both ritual moments, we identify a continuity of the iconographical model through the periods of black and red-figure vases in Athens. The earliest iconographical testimony is the kylix London B 80 (cat. 23), dated from about 580 B.C., most likely referring to the way the ceremony was performed before the tyranny. The scene, depicted on the inner circular frieze, represents the cortege’s arrival into the sanctuary of Athena. A Doric column points to the architectonical space of the temple, in front of which one sees a helix that supports the image of a snake, posed behind the goddess’ icon. The altar with a burning fire stands before the cultic image. A priestess arrives, with offerings and followed by a bull, leading the komos (the cortege). The music of the aulos conducted by the executioner calms the animal,. The piper wears a kithoniskos, thereby differentiating himself from the other participants, who come walking or on a chariot, wearing a mantle or completely naked. In this kylix from London the function of the aulos was probably to calm down the sacrificial victim. Where we see the auletes, the victim and the priestess before the altar, we do not see the procession, which is represented in the rest of the scene, but the precise moment that precedes the sacrifice. So, the Panathenaic orchestra, employed during the procession, is absent here, with only the auletes that accompanies the last steps of the animal before his immolation. Vases from the following decades depict the same situation again and again, pointing to the continuity of this ritualistic protocol, as testified by a hydria found in Caere, dated from mid-sixth century B.C. (cat. 25) and a lekythos conserved in Athens, from the turn of the fifth century B.C. (fig. 9 – cat. 18).


18

Fig. 9

The presence of the auletes, and the absence of the other musicians that took part in the pompe, when the cortege arrived into the sanctuary, where the sacrifice would be held before the altar and the temple, as verified in the iconography of the Great Panathenaia, should also occur in other major public processions that used an orchestra of wind and string players during the cortege. For instance, the arrival of the procession to the temple of Apollo in Megalopolis in Arcadia happened “with aulos and with pompe”39. The use of the aulos, in this specific moment of the procession to Apollo (involving a sacrifice rite), proves the ritualistic relevance of this instrument for validating worship in view of general religious beliefs (according to ritual efficacy criteria), considering that the lyra and the kithara were most common in Apollinian cults, as well as the Thessalian girls choir in Delphi, which brought offerings to the god, while dancing and singing a hymn to the sound of kitharai40. Likewise the paean to Apollo composed by Limenios, performed at the Treasure of the Athenians in Delphi, was accompanied by the kithara, played by the poet-composer himself41.

39 Paus. VIII 38, 8; cf. Haldane 1966, p. 99. 40 Heliod. Aeth. III 1 sq. The Cretans used the phorminges in dances and choirs in honour of Apollo (HH III 515). 41 Inscription from the second century B.C., found in the French expeditions to Delphi from 1893-94. Regarding the Delphic hymns to Apollo cf. Bélis 1992. Directed by the same Bélis, in 1996 the Ensemble Kérylos recorded the CD De la pierre au son: musiques de l’Antiquité grecque et romaine.


19

The composition of the musical band of the Panathenaic procession, disseminated to the modern public through the Parthenon friezes exposed in the Acropolis Museum, produced, as suggested by the iconography of the vases, a resounding and solemn orchestration with auloi and kitharai. The iconographical scheme – and probably the musical model – portrayed on the Parthenon friezes in the mid-fifth century B.C. was set a century before, according to the evidence of the amphora Berlin 1686 (fig. 10 – cat. 19), with two auletai and two kitharistai, wearing sumptuous clothes.

Fig. 10

A kylix conserved in a Swiss collection, dated from 560-50 B.C., represents a orchestral composition of wind and strings


20

instruments: we see two auloi, but, instead of the kithara, a lyra. How should we explain the use of the lyra in this pompe, the only example for the Panathenaic procession? Until that moment, the classical kithara, known as Asia, had not yet spread enough in Greece, particularly in Attica, despite its growing popularity in Delphi since 558 B.C. when Aristonicus of Argos was the winner in the new musical genre, the kitharistikos nomos. Around 540 B.C., the kithara spreads rapidly in Attica. In different situations, professional and even amateur musicians prefer the kithara to the lyra. The Athenian audience enjoyed hearing kitharoidoi and kitharistai in musical contests such as the Panathenaia, which was fostered by Pisistratus’ government42. From this time onwards, from the Berlin amphora (fig. 10 – cat. 19) up to the red-figure fragments from the demos Menidi (fig. 8 – cat. 17), the kithara, besides the aulos, becomes an official musical instrument in the Panathenaic orchestra. In the vase-painting, the composition of the orchestra varies regarding the number of individuals: a pair of auletai and a pair of kitharistai (fig. 10 – cat. 19; fig. 11 – cat. 20); one auletes and one kitharistes (fig. 8 – cat. 17; fig. 12 – cat. 21); and even one auletes and two kitharistai (cat. 22). Such numbers should not be considered as a realistic quantity, but as a numeric metaphor: they allude to a plural formation, as an orchestra with its string and wind sections. As it was not possible to depict the complete set of musicians necessary to produce the volume demanded by a great cortege that crossed the Athenian streets, the painter represented a pair of each instrument, or just the combination of each one.

Fig. 11

42 Cf. Simon 1953, p. 17.


21

Fig. 12

An important aspect in the iconography of the Panathenaia is the indication that professional musicians were engaged in major civic festivities – and high level musicians, as suggested by the sophistication of the costume used by the instrument players of the Berlin amphora (fig. 10 – cat. 19). This is possibly the earliest visual document depicting the oriental luxury of professional musicians’ clothes. Observing the kitharistai, we see, in detail, the pomp and refinement of their garments: the one on the right uses a khlaina and a long ependytes, over a white khiton, while the other, behind him, in the left corner, wears a red khiton and a himation. The auletai use khiton with short sleeves and himation. All the clothes, such as the khitones, himatia, khlainai and ependytes, are richly embellished, evidence that these were expensive garments, commissioned to the best tailors in the market. As noted by Susan Rotroff, it is necessary to observe, the apparent contradiction between the iconographical record (for both Attic vases and Parthenon friezes), showing the band of auloi and kitharistai, and the literary testimony of Aristophanes, who speaks of a single citharoedus43. First, we should analyse the question of gender: Aristophanes speaks of a citharoedus, designated by the definite article hJ (associating the female article and male noun), whereas the iconography reveals male musicians with the kithara in such pompai. For a long time the explanation given by Susan Rotroff and Isabel Henderson prevailed. They posited that Aristophanes ironically casts the masculinity of musicians linked to the New Music movement into

43 Cf. Rotroff 1977. Aristoph. Ec. 730-745 uses the female article before the male noun (hJ kiqarw/dov").


22

doubt, personified here in the figure of the kitharoidos – according to I. Henderson, Aristophanes was “playing for laugh”44. However, insofar as we deepen our attention to Attic iconography, we identify scattered examples – certainly exceptions – of women acting as musicians in situations supposed to be exclusively male. We can mention for instance the presence of a woman playing kithara in a wedding procession (cat. 26). On a oinokhoe from Munich, we see a female figure with a “cradle cithara”, in this case a proper instrument for concert, due to its size – the author nevertheless disagrees about the gender of the musician, since Beazley considers it to be a male figure, while Lullies considers it female, based on the lines of the clothes over the chest, suggesting female breasts45. Let us quote a late archaic sarcophagus, from a non-Attic context: a Turkish site, Gumusçay, on which we see a woman with a kithara in a funerary scene46. Let us also highlight a lekane showing a woman playing kithara before an altar (cat. 27). Thereby, even if we cannot assert that the female article used by Aristophanes carries realistic reference, the iconography, seen in a broader context, hints at the possibility that women could perform music in such contexts. The second point to be analysed is that Aristophanes mentions only the kithara, while the iconography always shows the presence of the aulos in Panathenaic processions. S. Rotroff proposes the following interpretation: the Parthenon’s frieze section, as well as Attic vase scenes, would represent the procession’s composition as it arrived into the sanctuary, after its reorganization on arriving at the Acropolis; Aristophanes, for his part, would refer to the sacred cortege along the town towards the Acropolis. Thus she maintains that the auletai were engaged in the procession only in the Acropolis, probably because of their role during the immolation of the victims. In our view, the author makes a confusion here. The silence of Aristophanes regarding the auletai in the procession is not enough to conclude it was absent in the corteges that crossed the town. Quite the opposite, from a musical standpoint the aulos was necessary, both for its visual presence, with the musicians wearing a gorgeous ependytes, and for its function, in guaranteeing melodic continuity, since it provided a more steady support for singing, which was a crucial factor

44 Cf. Rotroff 1977; Henderson 1957, p. 393. 45 Cf. ARV 10/4; R. Lullies, in CVA Munich 2, text referring to pl. 84. 46 Cf. Sevinç 1996, p. 259-60, figs. 12-13; Bundrick 1998, p. 26, note 51.


23

in a procession that had many participants and was attended by a large audience47. Pollux’s testimony, even if from a late date, endorses the iconographical evidence from Attic vases and from the Parthenon’s frieze, for he reports the participation of both auletai and kitharistai along the great Panathenaic pompai, in opposition to S. Rotroff’s interpretation48. II.4 Bloody sacrifices: The sacrifice of animals was the main feature of Greek religion, for it propitiated the communication between gods and the faithful, when one “asked for help and support, and gave thanks for wishes already fulfilled”49. As regards scenes depicting the act of bloody sacrifice, Attic iconography is unvarying with respect to musical accompaniment – the instrument is always the aulos. In the meantime, vase painters do not diverge from literary evidence, which points to its presence in every blood or food sacrifice50. Herodotus, as we have mentioned before, thought very strange that the Persians used to practice bloody sacrifice accompanied neither by the aulos nor by any musical instrument at all51. Lucian of Samosata illustrates the presence of the aulos sound before the altar during the sacrifice:

“Then they bring it (the victim) to the altar and slaughter it under the god’s eyes, while it bellows plaintively – making, we must suppose, auspicious sounds, and fluting low music to accompany the sacrifice” (hJmivfwnon h[dh th'/ qusiva/ ejpaulou'n)52.

47 The Aristotelian author of Pr. XIX 43 argues the solo sung to an aulos has advantages over the one sung to a lyra, in that the aulos joins with the voice, for both are wind instruments, with a continuous sound, so that the aulos covers up many singer’s mistakes in the ears of the audience; the lyra, for the spectator, is less perceptible and, in not being blown, it does not mingle in the ear with the sound of the voice – its sound being thin, it always produces the impression of being separated from the voice. Haldane, 1966, p. 100 stress: “Naturally the kithara, lacking the stronger tones of the aulos, would by itself have formed insufficient support for the heavier type of procession. It was, however, eminently suited for the graceful advance of a group of dancers”. 48 Poll. IV 83. 49 Cf. Ekroth 2007, p. 250. 50 Cf. Detienne – Svenbro 1979, pp. 223 and 231. 51 Hdt. I 132, 1. 52 Luc. Sacr. 12 (tr. by A.M. Harmon, in Lucian, III, Cambridge [MA] – London 1921).


24

The relation between the aulos and bloody sacrifices was seen almost as an identity tag of Greek space and daily life. At least this is the impression that causes Euripides to note about Argos: “The altars of beaten gold were set out; and through the town the altar fires of the Argives blazed; the flute, handmaid of the Muse’s song, sounded its note sweetly”53. Thus, the choir of Aristophanes’ Birds reveals that, to obtain gods’ favors, one sacrificed the animal and intoned the song accompanied by the Pythian clamour of the auletes – in the case, Cheris, a professional musician mocked and even rejected in several passages of Aristophanes54. The Attic vase-paintings, as we may realise, avoided representing both the immolation act and bloody sacrifice, owing to a reason that we cannot determinate. Among the scenes in our catalog depicting bloody sacrifice with musical accompaniment, only eleven record the sacrificial act. The others present the moments before the sacrifice, such as: the arrival of the procession into the sanctuary when the cortege dispersed, bringing the animal for sacrifice55; the washing of the victim’s head56 and the washing of the priests’ hands57 – two forms of preparatory purification rite for sacrifice; the arrival, accompanied by a salpinx, of the animals that were going to be sacrificed (cat. 14). Likewise, the painter may choose to represent the moment immediately following the sacrificial act, for instance, when the auletes moves away from the altar, where the vestiges of blood testify the completed sacrifice (fig. 13 – cat. 28). As a matter of fact, the most common scenes, mainly in black-figure vases, are representations of the arrival of the processional cortege into the sacred shrine, aiming to initiate the sacrifice ceremony, when the pompous formation will be dismantled and only a reduced group remains58.

53 Eur. El. 714-717. Euripides, Electra, (tr. by E.P. Coleridge, in Euripides, II, New York 1938). 54 Aristoph. Av. 851-857. 55 Hydria, black-figure. “Caere” style. Copenhagen, Nation Museum, 13.567. Mid-sixth century. 56 Stamnos, red-figure. The Eucharides Painter (ARV 228/32). Paris, Louvre, C 10754. Circa 490-80. 57 Bell-krater, red-figur. The Kleophon Painter (ARV 1149/9; Para 457). Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, 95, 25. About 430. 58 Cf. Nordquist 1992a, p. 155;. fig. 5 – cat. 9; fig. 6 – cat. 10; fig. 9 – cat. 18.; cat. 23.


25

Fig. 13

Sacrificial scenes have remarkable features. First, the chronological framework – all scenes were produced in the second half of the fifth century B.C., mainly in the later part of this period (four between c. 450 B.C. and 420 B.C., and seve between c. 420 B.C. and 400 B.C.). Secondly, the support – other than two scenes represented on stamnoi59, the rest comprises kraters (nine vases), six bell-kraters, one volute-krater60, and two calyx-kraters (fig. 14 – cat. 29)61, both of them in the manner of the Cadmus Painter and depicting a ritual devoted to Apollo. Thirdly, the treatment given to the subject – the painter presents different phases of the ritual at the same time, condensed into a single image, according to a synoptical language. Fourthly, thematic emphasis – in all cases, the ritual of splanchnoptia stands out, depicted in different phases. The burning of the victims’ viscera becomes almost a symbol of all practices of immolation and

59 1) Stamnos, red-figure. Polygnotos (ARV2 1028/9; Add2 317). London, British Museum, E 455. About 440. 2) Stamnos, red-figure. Group of Polygnotos, undetermined. (ARV2 1051/17; Add2 321) London, British Museum, E 456. About 440. 60 Volute-krater, black-figure. The Cadmus Painter (ARV 1184/1). Lecce, Museo Provinciale, J. 1093. About 420. 61 Calyx-krater, red-figure. Group of the Cadmus Painter. Switzerland, Basel market. About 420.


26

bloody sacrifice upon the altar. Fifth, the identity of the honoured god – in most vases the painters do not identify the deity to which one offers the bloody sacrifice62, except for three cases of worship to Apollo (fig. 14 – cat. 29)63 and one to Hermes64. Sixth, the ambience – the featuring of the characters, such as their costume, suggest that the scene concerns a private cult, since they do not wear sophisticated clothes like priests, musicians and even participants depicted by black-figure painters in great public processions. The participants of sacrifice scenes represented by red-figure painters, from the second half of the fifth century B.C., all dress in a simple way, wearing only a common himation; no member of such rites uses a special vestment, not even the piper, who does not differ from the others by his clothes. Hence, we suppose that the painter wanted to represent not a professional musician, but a free young man of school age, as we can deduce from the splanchnoptai, acting in worship organized by citizens as a part of their private religious life. Finally, the position of the auletes in cult service is remarkable – because just as in the processions, the musicians are depicted in the periphery of the scene. Being merely a part of the ritual equipment, they are usually not highlighted among the participants. We should observe that, generally speaking, vase painters avoided showing the auletai taking part in sacrifices, although we know they were indispensable actors in such rituals. In the series of vases referring to the splanchnoptia, which is the main iconographical reference regarding the participation of musicians in sacrifices, the painters tried to represent them as amateur musicians, instead of professional ones. Behind the censoring by the painters, we believe two features intervened on the lack of visibility of the auletai in sacrifice services. First, the general prejudice against the aulos – that increased exactly in the period when this series was produced. Second, the negative image cultural elites had about professional musicians, who gradually began to dominate the scene from the late fifth century B.C., due to the growing complexity of the musical repertoire, technique and manufacture of instruments, which little by little became less accessible to amateurs.

62 Cf. Oakley 2013, p. 132. 63 Bell-krater, red-figure. Agrigento, Museo Archeologico, 4688. About 430. 64 See note 60.


27

The most interesting example of this, thanks to its richness in details, can be found on a calyx-krater from San Antonio (USA), attributed to the manner of the Cadmus Painter (fig. 14 – cat. 29). On the obverse, at the centre, we see an altar with volutes on a three-level base; over this altar, flaming stumps provide the fire for cooking the offerings. On the left of the altar, slightly above, a young man pours a libation from a kylix on the flames. On the same side, slightly below, a splanchnoptes holds the spit raised in diagonal position relative to his body. On the left corner, above the handle, we see a youth sitting. On the right of the altar, the second splanchnoptes puts his spit over the fire, for roasting the victims’ splancha (innards: heart, lungs, liver, spleen and kidneys)65. On the same side, on an upper level, the representation of the god – Apollo, with a laurel wreath, sitting in frontal position; in his hands, two attributes: on the right, a laurel branch, and, on the left, his lyra. Further on the right, a young auletes blows his instrument, accompanying the ritual of splanchnoptia and libation. Finally, on the right corner, above the handle, is a satyr, who links with the Dionysian frame on the reverse. Behind the altar, a tripod is laid on a column. A second tripod is represented on the upper field, on the left, above the splanchnoptes’ head. In the lower field, on the right, beneath Apollo’s feet, lies a hydria, which may be interpreted in different ways – it may be an award for the winner on a Delphian contest or a vessel for water, likely used for putting out the fire, for purifying the animal before the sacrifice or even the splanchnoptes after it. On the left, the scene is framed by a palm tree, depicted above the handle, invading the reverse. Therefore, beyond the god, other elements such as the palm tree and the tripod indicate that the ritual occurs in sanctuary of Apollo, probably in Delphi. The tripods are built in connection with victories in dithyrambic contests, associated to Apollo in Delphi and Dionysus in Athens. On the reverse, a satyr stands out holding a thyrsos, amidst two maenads holding torches. In the upper field, on the right, above the left handle, a palm tree (mentioned before) marks out the sacred space of the offering scene from the obverse side; the same manner as the satyr above the other handle, the palm tree plays the same role of connecting the scenes of both sides of the vase.

65 Cf. Oakley 2013, p. 132.


28

Fig. 14

The Dionysian scene must refer to a satyric drama represented during a festival organized in honour of Dionysus. Therefore, we can interpret the obverse of this vase as a representation of an offering ritual to Apollo, performed in his Delphian sanctuary and accomplished as thanks to a victory in a dithyrambic contest or another musical agon, as testified by the tripods, indicating the relation between the offerings and the victory in a competition. The iconographical tradition presents, however, meaningful variations regarding the participation of the piper along the ritual, pointing in which moments he should play or, on the contrary, to make silence. Gullög Nordquist identifies six different situations66: (i) One plays the aulos during the preparation for the victim’s

immolation, when the procession disperses on arrival at the sanctuary67.

(ii) One plays the aulos during the purification handwashing of the priests responsible for the sacrifice rite, completed in a vessel placed at the altar68.

(iii) The aulos is not played during the purification washing of the victim’s head over a vessel69.

(iv) The aulos is not played after the immolation, whilst the priest roasts the sacrificial meat that will be consumed by the

66 Cf. Nordquist 1992a, pp. 155-161. 67 See notes 55 and 63. 68 See note 57. 69 See note 56.


29

participants of the ritual, before the splanchnoptia, as suggest the splanchna ready to be brought to altar for being roasted (fig. 15 – cat. 30).

(v) One plays the aulos after roasting the portions of sacrificial meat to be consumed by participants, when the splanchna are taken to the altar in order to be roasted; the painter int.nds likely to set forth the splanchnoptia that is about to start70.

(vi) One plays the aulos when the splanchna are grilled on the altar (fig. 14 – cat. 29)71.

A bell-krater by the Hephaestus Painter, conserved in Frankfurt, may be considered the best example of such situations when the piper should silence his instrument (fig. 15 – cat. 30). A priest, the hiereus, roasts pieces of meat on the flaming altar devoted to Apollo, as revealed by the small statue of the deity with a laurel branch and bow standing on a pillar placed behind the altar, while a group nears – the group consists of one man and two youths, one of them is the splanchnoptes, the other, the auletes. The young musician, however, limits himself to hold the aulos in hand, abstaining from playing it.

Fig. 15

70 Bell-krater, red-figure. The Nikias Painter (ARV 1334/13). Lecce, Museo Provinciale, 630. Late fifth century. 71 1) Bell-krater, red-figure. The Pothos Painter (ARV 1190/26). Nancy, Institut d’Archéologie, no inv. About 420. 2) Bell-krater, red-figure. The Pothos Painter (ARV 1190). British Museum, E 504. About 420. 3) Bell-krater, red-figure. The Petworth Group (ARV 1182/2). Port Sunlight, 5036 (x2140). About 420.


30

In both situations, being played or just in hands of a musician, the aulos is an indispensable instrument for sacrificial rituals, no matter which deity is worshipped. Jean-Louis Durand includes the aulos amongst the rite tools, in the same manner as the sphageion, the vessel that received the victim’s blood72. The aulos is necessary, on the one hand, during the cooking of food for the gods, the splanchna (the viscera, seen as condensed blood, according to Aristotelic theory)73. On the other hand, it seems that it could remain silent during the cooking of the meat destined for men in the sacrifice, since it would not fulfill a mystical/propiciatory function, as there was no need in this moment for a dialogue with the god. It probably played the role of guaranteeing communication with the gods, to ensure that they listened to human demands and accepted as offerings the animals sacrificed on the altar. At the same time, the aulos would have also a harmonising function, so inserting the bloody ritual in the frame of the arete of sophrosyne, in view of the enormous potential of the hybris contained in the violence of the immolation act. Thus, it would have a conciliatory function, particularly in moments of intense antagonism – as the solemn sweetness of the procession and the cruel violence of the instant when the victim was killed. The aulos music joined several goals: it soothed the animal; it called upon the gods to accept the blood pouring on the altar; and, through its lonely melodies, it fulfilled the complete silence of the audience, the instant the animal was immolated. So the aulos was the musical instrument universally used during sacrificial acts, regardless of the honoured deity. Within the iconography of Attic vases, there is no case linking the kithara and the lyra to immolation or sacrificial flesh burning. One can oppose to this consideration the fact that Apollo could figure often with such instruments in hand, together with his sister Artemis, when they appear completing a sacrifice at an altar. Meanwhile, it should be noted first, that the sacrifice in such images consists always of a libation, and, secondly, that the context is mythological, where the musical instruments are depicted essentially not as ritual musical tools but as iconographical attributes for identifying the personality of the 72 Cf. Durand 1979, p. 148, pr. I-IV. 73 Arist. P.A. II 1; cf. Durand 1979, p. 99: “The agreement is obvious between the scenes depicted in the image and the Aristotelian theory that the viscera are condensed blood, different in nature of the flesh or other meats”.


31

god. Nevertheless, it is likely that the kithara and the lyra in hands of Apollo, in this situation called by Erika Simon the “opfernde Gott” (“sacrificing god”), served at the same time as a symbol of the musicians participation in sacrifices, even if in reality they used the aulos rather than the string instruments of Apollo74. This is why the generalization of Haldane seems to us mistaken, when he argues that the choice of the musical instrument to be used in sacrifice would depend upon the personality of the honoured deity75. Indeed, according to the deity, other instruments could be added in different phases of the ritual, but never during bloody sacrifice, when the aulos had exclusivity76. Let us take as example the worship of Pan and Apollo. The instrument of Pan was the syrinx, although its invention has been assigned in mythology to Hermes77. It was also used in many pastoral rites, such as the cults to the Nymphs, to Hermes and even to the Thracian goddess Attis. However, accordingly to Menander, the aulos was the instrument used in sacrifices to Pan78. The syrinx, on the other hand, was used in accompaniment to the hymns sung in his honour79. Many cults to Apollo were accomplished with lyra or kithara, which counts as evidence of the adequacy between the ritual and the musical profile of the honoured deity80. We know the kithara was used, in the sixth century B.C., to accompany the paeans sung by boys’ choirs in spring celebrations at Apollo’s altar in Megara81. During the epiphany ritual to Apollo in Delphi, a boys’ choir sang the paean to the sound of a phorminx, to welcome him on his return from 74 On scenes with offering gods cf. Eckstein-Wolf 1952; Simon 1953. For a different interpretation cf. Veyne 1990. 75 Cf. Haldane 1966, p. 102. 76 The kithara before the altar, in hands of a musician that watches the violent reaction of Heracles against Bousiris, is related to the context of sacrificial procession, in which it could take part, regardless of which god is worshiped. Cf. Hydria, red-figure. The Kleophrades Painter (ARV 188/70). Paris, Louvre, N 3376 (MN 401). Late sixth century. 77 HH IV 39 sq. (invention of the lyra) e 512 (invention of the syrinx). 78 Men. Dysk. 432-4: “Plangon, move more quickly. We should have finished sacrificing by now.... Play your pipes, Parthenis, Pan’s song. This god, they say, should not be approached in silence” (tr. by V.J. Rosivach = https://files.fairfield.edu/users/Rosivach/websites/rosivach/cl103a/dyskolos.htm) 79 Longus II 31. 80 Cf. Haldane 1966, p. 100. 81 Thgn 777-9.


32

the land of the Hyperboreans82. At a later period in Delos, during epiphany worship, after completing the boy’s choir performance accompanied by the kithara, a similar musical reception took place, when the boys’ lyrai would sound at the time that Apollo entered the temple83. We know even of a girl’s choir from Thessalia, quoted above, that brought offerings to Delphi, as they danced and sang a hymn accompanied by the kithara84. Despite the many stories opposing Apollo to the aulos, such as the myth on musical combat between him and Marsyas – a popular subject since the second half of the fifth century B.C. – all vases depicting bloody sacrifices carried out in honour to Apollo represent exclusively the aulos, whenever they show the musical instrument in the iconographical version of the rite (fig. 14 – cat. 29)85. We conclude in this regard, that it is risky to assume there was a univocal relation between the musical instrument employed in the ritual and the mythological profile of the worshipped deity. The reasons that led to the selection of a musical instrument as suitable for the cult cannot be assigned in such a simplistic way to mythology. In our view, the choice of the instrument had more to do with the protocol that governed rituals rather than symbolic meanings determined by mythology, according basically to three features: (i) (i) to mystical precepts (the propitiatory purpose of the aulos in

sacrifice)86; (ii) (ii) to musical fundamentals (such as the role of the kithara in

the pompai, resulting in a higher sounding effect and harmonization that highlights the contrast with the section of auloi, or the choice of a more appropriate instrument for accompanying a hymn, according to the composer’ will);

(iii) aesthetic effects (the visual spectacle of the orchestra with large sections of auletai and kitharistai in the major processions, all of them wearing lush costumes).

Finally, regarding music in sacrifices, we should still consider the role of the salpinx (a type of trumpet), a subject that did not receive enough attention until the study by Gullög Nordquist, The 82 Alc. fr. 1 Bergk. 83 Call. Ap. 12-19. 84 Heliod. Aeth. III 1 sq. 85 Cf. note 61 and 63. 86 Cf. Nordquist 1992a, p. 167.


33

Salpinx in Greek Cult (1994). J.A. Haldane called attention to the use of the salpinx in sacrifices, in their preliminary phase, when the participants stopped around the altar; according to him the function was to regulate the procedures, so that in every sign emitted by the instrument another animal would be brought to the executioner87. It would also be helpful to silence the crowd, in order to make audible the prayers uttered by the herald. G. Nordquist considers that the literary evidence is not enough to support Haldane’s interpretation88. However, a kylix from Florence (cat. 31) seems to endorse his hypothesis, since it shows a youth blowing a salpinx in front of horses brought to sacrifice and a wild bull resisting the young men who attempt to dominate it. On the opposite side of the trumpet player stands the hangman sharpening his machetes. It is evident there is a relationship between the salpinx and transport of animals to sacrifice. In the meantime, Lehnstaedt maintains that horses, represented as sacrificial victims, would indicate the context of the Great Panathenaia89. According to Nordquist, the typically military character of the salpinx should be related with its function in worship90. Written testimonies quote the use of the trumpet in cults connected with military life, such as in the official rituals completed during the departure of the Athenian fleet for the unfortunate expedition to Sicily91. Thucydides and Plutarch also refer to the presence of the salpiktes in heroic worship, as occurred in Plataea in honour to the Greek soldiers who died in the war against the Persians: the trumpet player headed the procession until the hero’s tomb, emitting war signs, in an appropriate way for a ritual performed to a soldiern died in battle92. However, the salpinx took part also in rituals of non-military nature, such as sacrifices carried out by official Athenian embassies, the so-called theoriai, whenever they visited important places, as revealed by inscriptions from Delphi93. One verifies the presence of

87 Cf. Haldane 1966, p. 101. 88 Cf. Nordquist 1992a, pp. 147-149. 89 Cf. Lehnstaedt 1970, p. 201, n. K 84. 90 Cf. Norquist 1994, p. 245. 91 Thuc. VI 32.1. For a similar use existed in Crete, as reveal Gortyna inscriptions from the IV/III century B.C., cf. Guarducci 1942, part. pp. 185-186. 92 Thuc. III 58, 4; Plut. Arist. XXI 1. 93 Cf. Nordquist 1994, pp. 246-247.


34

the salpinx in Dionysian worship as well, mainly in the naval car procession – called katagogia – that happened on the first day of the Anthesteria (fig. 16 – cat. 32).

Fig. 16

Given the professional demand for such musicians in worship, many trumpeters, who were active participants in the army, were engaged in religious cult in peacetime. Some of them devoted their musical instruments in sanctuaries, as votive offerings94. Unfortunately, archaeological excavations have not brought to light such bronze trumpets mentioned as offerings. Nevertheless, several terracotta figurines of trumpeters – or in the shape of the instrument – have been found in different sanctuaries95. What would be, then, the function of the salpinx in worship? First, it borrows its purpose of signalling or heralding from the military context, a function suitable for a high-sounding instrument 94 Anth. Pal. VI 46 (= Antipater of Sidon): “Phrenicus, having quitted the wars and the altar, presented to Athena his brazen trumpet, erst the spokesman of peace and war, sending forth a barbarous clamour from his mouth”; VI 151 (= Tymnaues): “Miccos of Pallene hung in the temple of Ilian Athena this deep-toned flute of Ares, the Tyrrhenian instrument by which he formerly uttered many a loud message of peace or war”; VI 159 ( = Antipater of Sidon): “I, the trumpet that once poured forth the bloody notes of war in the battle, and the sweet tune of the peace, hang here, Pherenicus, thy gift to the Tritonian maid, resting from my clamorous music”; VI 195 (= Archias): “To Athene of Troy Miccos of Pallene suspended the deep-toned trumpet of the War-God which he formerly sounded by the altars and on the field of battle, here a sign of civic order, and there of the death-cry” (tr. by W. R. Paton, The Greek Anthology, I, London 1916). 95 Cf. Nordquist 1994, p. 247.


35

such as the trumpet – it gave signals at the commencement of the procession (Nordquist 1992a, p. 147-9). Secondly, as a metallic instrument, it had an apotropaic and magic mission, assigned to it by the Greeks, just as did many other peoples, to metals, mainly to bronze objects96. For instance, it was believed that its high sound eradicated diseases97. Some cultural qualities reinforced its capacity to fulfill these functions. As a warrior instrument, played exclusively by citizens, its meaning was linked to freedom. Its function in cerimonies, when used in processions, was connected likely with the condition of leading a procession, announcing it to the population. Unlike the secondary position occupied by auletai and kitharistai in processions, the trumpeters, when depicted, almost always appear as leaders. This is the case of a lekythos from London by the Theseus Painter98 that represents a salpiktes heading a cortege, followed by a kanephoros. III. Conclusion Although the aulos was appropriate for accompanying hymns and procession choirs, many examples witness the use of other instruments in worship, mainly string instruments, as the kithara, depending upon the musical tradition associated with the repertoire usually performed at a given ritual or upon the honoured deity, pointing out that the latter is not a decisive factor in selection. In major processions, such as the Great Panathenaia, an orchestra of musicians accompanied the ritual, providing greater pomp and volume, by combining kitharistai and auletai. A particular case is verified in the use of salpinx, bound either to its military function or to the apotropaic effect of its metallic timbre, or even to its communicative competence in the procession through the crowd. The aulos’ exclusivity occurs when bloody sacrifice rituals are fulfilled, since it was required for effective communication between the faithful and the deity. Lastly, musical performance, musicians (amateur or professional ones) and musical instruments were, as a general rule, almost indispensable components of Greek worship. 96 Theoc. Id. II 36. 97 Artem. IV 56. 98 Lekythos, black-figure. The Theseus Painter (ABL 267/14). London, British Museum, B 648. Circa 500-490.


36

Iconography Catalog (Attic black- and red-figure vases): Cat. 1 (fig. 1): Skyphos, black-figure. The Comast Group. KX Painter.

(ABV 26/21; Add² 7) Athens, National Museum, 640. About 585-70. Photo: F.V. Cerqueira

Cat. 2. (fig. 2): Pyxis, black-figure. Not attributed. Athens, National Museum, room 54, vitrine 52 (April 1998). About 500. Photo: F.V. Cerqueira

Cat. 3 (fig. 3): Kylix, red-figure. The Triptolemos Painter. Paris, Louvre, G 138. About 480. Photo: F.V. Cerqueira

Cat. 4 (fig. 4): Pinax, black-figure. Not attributed. Athens, National Museum, Acropolis Collection, 2574-2575. Third quarter of the sixth century. Photo: F.V. Cerqueira

Cat. 5: Amphora, black-figure. The Swing Painter (ABV 305/26). Naples, Museo Nazionale, 81186. Circa 550-30

Cat. 6: Loutrophoros (fragment of the base), black-figure. Not attributed. Athens, National Museum, Acropolis Collection, 1208. Late sixth century

Cat. 7: Calyx-krater, red-figure. The Villa Giulia Painter. Roma, Villa Giulia, 909

Cat. 8: Kylix in shape of a crater, black-figure. The B.M.N. Painter. (ABV) Paris, Louvre, CA 2988 Circa 550-40

Cat. 9 (fig. 5): Skyphos, black-figure. Theseus Painter (From 258, above). Stuttgart, Würtemberger Landesmuseum, KAS 74. About 500

Cat. 10. (fig. 6): Amphora, black-figure. Affecter (ABV 243). Munich, Staatliche Museen, Antikensammlung, 1441. Circa 540-30

Cat. 11: Krater, black-figure. The Ptoon Painter (ABV 83/1). Paris, Louvre, E 623 (Campana 38). About 580-70

Cat. 12: Ovoid neck-amphora, black-figure. The Omaha Painter (Para 34/2; Add2 24). Omaha/Nebraska, Joslyn Art Museum, 1963.480. About 570

Cat. 13: Kylix (Siana), black-figure. The C Painter (ABV 51/5). London, British Museum, B 382 (1867.0508.940). About 575-55


37

Cat. 14: Fragments (bell-krater?), black-figure. Not attributed. Athens, National Museum, Acropolis Collection, 621. Last quarter of sixth century

Cat. 15: Stammos, red-figure. The Vila Giulia Painter (ARV2 620/32). Saint Petersburg, the Hermitage, 1588 (B 806). About 460

Cat. 16 (fig. 7): Lekane, black-figure (Boeotian). Formerly identified as “Early attic work, known as Vaurna” (CVA British Museum 2, III H e, pl. 4a-b) Some authors identify it as a Boeotian ware, others as a Boeotian imitation of an Attic model. Found in Athens. London, British Museum, B 80 (1879.1004.1). Second quarter of sixth century. © Trustees of the British Museum

Cat. 17 (fig. 8): Fragments (kantharos?), red-figure. The Pan Painter. Fragments found in Menidi/Attica, the excavations of April / May 1878, n. 1. Mid-fifth century. Likely contemporary to Parthenon friezes

Cat. 18 (fig. 9): Lekythos (fragments), black-figure. Not attributed. Athens, National Museum, Acropolis Collection, 2298. About 500

Cat. 19 (fig. 10): Amphora, black-figure. Painter Berlin 1686 (ABV 296/4; Add2 77). Berlin, Staatliche Museen, Antikensammlung, 1686. About 540-30

Cat. 20 (fig. 11): Fragments, black-figure. Not attributed. Fragments found in Menidi/Attica, the excavations of April / May 1878, n. 9. Last decades of sixth century

Cat. 21 (fig. 12): Fragments, black-figure. Not attributed. Athens, National Museum, Acropolis Collection, 2009. Late sixth century

Cat. 22: Amphora (fragmentary), black-figure. Antimenes Painter (ABV 391). Athens, National Museum, Acropolis Collection, 816. About 500

Cat. 23: Kylix, black-figure. Near Glaukytes. Switzerland, Basel, private collection (photo: Herbert Cahn, Basel). About 560

Cat. 24: Loutrophoros, black-figure. The Swing Painter (ABV 309/97; Para 133; Add2 83). Eleusis, Archaeological Museum, 471 (873). About 550-30

Cat. 25: Hydria, black-figure. Not attributed. Paris, Louvre, F 10. Mid-sixth century


38

Cat. 26: Nack-amphora, black-figure. The Leagros Group. Berlin, Antikesammlung, F 1896. Late sixth century

Cat. 27: Lekane, red-figure. Not attributed. Saint Petersburg, Hermitage. Third quarter of fifth centure

Cat. 28 (fig. 13): Kylix, red-figure. The Ancora Painter (ARV2 875/2, footnote). Adolphseck, Schloss Fasanerie (Collection Landgraf Philipp von Hessen), 134. Circa 470-60

Cat. 29 (fig. 14): Calyx-krater, red-figure. Manner of the Cadmus Painter (H.A. Kahn). San Antonio, San Antonio Museum, 85.120.2. About 420-10

Cat. 30 (fig. 15): Bell-krater, red-figure. The Hephaistos Painter (ARV2 1788/31bis). Frankfurt, Museum für Vor-und Frühgeschichte, VF β 413. About 450-40

Cat. 31: Kylix, red-figure. Not attributed. Florence, Museo Archeologico Etrusco, 81600 (356). Last quarter of sixth century

Cat. 32 (fig. 16): Skyphos, black-figure. Near the Theseus Class (ABL 253/15). Bologna, Museo Civico, 130. About 500

Abbreviations and bibliography ABL = C.H.E. Haspels, Attic Black-Figured Lekythoi, Paris 1936 ABV = J.D. Beazley, Attic Black-Figure Vase-Painters, Oxford 1956 Add2 = Th.H. Carpenter (ed.), Beazley Addenda: Additional

References to ABV, ARV2 & Paralipomena, Oxford 19892 ARV2 = J.D. Beazley, Attic Red-Figured Vase-Painters, Oxford 19632 Athanassakis 1970: A. Athanassakis, Music and Ritual in Primitive

Eleusis, «Platon» 28 (1970), pp. 86-104 Aytai 1990: D. Aytai, A música como veículo de comunicação com o

mundo paralelo, in S.M. Carvalho (ed.), Orfeu, orfismo e viagens a mundos paralelos, São Paulo 1990, pp. 89-96

Bélis 1986: A. Bélis, Musique et transe dans le cortège dionisyaque, «Cahiers du Groupe Interdisciplinaire du Théâtre Antique» 4 (1986), pp. 9-29

Bélis 1992: A. Bélis, Les hymnes à Apollon. Étude épigraphique et musicale, “Corpus des Inscriptions de Delphes”, III, Paris 1992


39

Bélis 1999: A. Bélis, Les musiciens dans l’Antiquité, Paris 1999 Bundrick 1998: S.D. Bundrick, Expression of Harmony:

Representations of Female Musicians in Fifth-Century Athenian Vase Painting, Ann Arbor [MI] 1998

Calame 1996: C. Calame, L’Éros dans la Grèce Antique, Paris 1996 CVA = AA.VV., Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, Oxford 1922 ff. =

www.cvaonline.org.br Detienne – Svenbro 1979: M. Detienne, J. Svenbro, Les loups au

festin ou la Cité impossible, in Detienne – Vernant 1979, pp. 215-237

Detienne – Vernant 1979: M. Detienne, J.-P. Vernant (edd.), La cuisine du sacrifice en pays grec, Paris 1979

Durand 1979: J.-L. Durand, Bêtes grecques, in Detienne – Vernant 1979, pp. 133-157

Eckstein-Wolf 1952: B. Eckstein-Wolf, Zur Darstellungen spendender Götter, «Mitteilungen des deutschen Archäologischen Instituts» 5 (1952), pp. 39-75

Ekroth 2007: G. Ekroth, Meat in Ancient Greece: Sacrificial, Sacred or Secular?, «Food & History», 5, 1 (2007), pp. 249-272

Guarducci 1942 M. Guarducci, Due iscrizioni e una presunta pestilenza di Gortyna, «Epigraphica» 4 (1942) pp. 177-190

Furtwängler – Reichhold 1932: A. Furtwängler, A. Reichhold, Griechische Vasenmalerei: Auswahl hervorragender Vasenbilder, III, Munich 1932

Haldane 1966: J.A. Haldane, Musical Instruments in Greek Worship, «Greece and Rome» 13 (1966), pp. 98-107

Henderson 1957: I. Henderson, s.v. Ancient Greek Music, in E. Wellesz (ed.), New Oxford History of Music. I: Ancient and Oriental Music, 1957

Lambin 1992: G. Lambin, La chanson grecque dans l’Antiquité, Paris 1992

Lehnstaedt 1970: K. Lehnstaedt, Prozessionsdarstellungen auf attischen Vasen, Munich 1970

Nordquist 1992a: G. Nordquist, Instrumental Music in Representations of Greek Cult, «Kernos» Suppl. 1 (1992), pp. 143-68


40

Nordquist 1992b: G. Nordquist, Some Notes on Musicians in Greek Cult, «Kernos» Suppl. 1 (1992), pp. 81-93

Nordquist 1994: G. Nordquist, The Salpinx in Greek Cult, in T. Ahlbäck (edd.), Dance, Music, Art and Religion: Based on Papers Read at the Symposion on Dance, Music and Art in Religions Held at Åbo, Finland, on the 16th-18th August 1994, Åbo – Stockholm 1994, pp. 241-256

Oakley 2013: J.H. Oakley, The Greek Vase, London, 2013 Para: J.D. Beazley, Paralipomena: Additions to Attic Black-Figure

Vase-Painters and Attic Red-Figured Vase-Painters, Oxford 19712

Rotroff 1977: S. Rotroff, The Partenon Frieze and the Sacrifice to Athena, «American Journal of Archaeology» 81 (1977), pp. 379-382

Sevinç 1996: N. Sevinç, A New Sarcophagus of Polyxena from the Salvage Excavations at Gümüsçay, «Studia Troica» 6 (1996), pp. 251-264

SIG3: W. Dittenberger (ed.), Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum, Leipzig 1915-19243

Simon 1953: E. Simon, Opfernde Götter, Berlin 1953 Veyne 1990 P. Veyne, Images de divinités ténant une phiale ou

patère. La libation comme ‘rite de passage’ e non pas offrande, «Métis» 5, 1-2 (1990), pp. 17-28

Wegner 1949: M. Wegner, Das Musikleben der Griechen, Leipzig 1949

Documents

The presence of music in Greek worship: An iconographical approach*